2/2007 - The Windows
Recovery Environment (WinRE) in Windows Vista
replaces the Recovery Console found in Windows XP. And
where installing the Recovery Console was a fairly
simple process in XP, installing WinRE in Vista is
not quite as simple.

The Recovery Console in Windows
XP was/is used for advanced repair and recovery
options and procedures for Windows XP computers. It
could be installed from the Windows XP CD in a fairly
straight forward process. The installation created
a c:\cmdcons directory on your C: drive and the Recovery
Console could be added as a boot option during XP boot
up.

The Recovery Console is gone
in Windows Vista. Instead,
you have the new Windows Recovery Environment. However,
a big difference with WinRE is there is no easy way
to install this on your Vista hard drive. Microsoft
does not provide an install routine for WinRE. Microsoft
prefers you run WinRE from the Vista install DVD. Now
there is nothing wrong with this, but how often have
you needed your install CD/DVD only to spend an interminable
amount of time looking for it? The
following procedures will allow you to install WinRE
on your local hard drive so you won't have to hunt
for the DVD.

How
to install The Windows Recovery Environment on your
Vista PC

Note: The following is meant for advanced users or
IT professionals. You will be modifying the system
partition on your hard drive, and if done incorrectly,
it could render your PC unbootable.

Assumptions
<enter> means press the Enter key
You know how to open an elevated
command prompt in
Vista
You have a basic understanding of ImageX and the WAIK
You have a basic understanding of DOS

Basic Steps
Create a winre.wim image file that is the Windows Recovery
Environment
Add a file to the winre.wim image file
Copy the modified winre.wim file to the root of C:\
Modify the F8 Advanced Boot Menu to run WinRE

1. Install
the Windows Automated Installation Kit on
the Vista PC. A little
bit of a pain if you don't have this installed. You
have to download an image of the WAIK from MS,
create a DVD from the image (the same as creating a
DVD from an ISO file), then install it from the DVD. You
can download the WAIK
for Windows Vista here.

2.Insert
the Windows Vista DVD into the DVD drive
of the Vista PC (cancel out of the install window
if it opens).

(where e: is the DVD drive. Use whatever drive letter
is assigned to your DVD drive)

Once this completes, you will have a file in c:\winreimage
called winre.wim. This is the image file that is the
Windows Recovery Environment.

6.Mount
the image file you just created from the Vista
DVD at the Windows PE Tools command prompt (this
is where you will need admin access). This step is
needed because you will need to add a file to the winre.wim
image file (next step).

imagex /mountrw c:\winreimage\winre.wim
1 c:\winremount <enter>

(FYI…If you now look in c:\winremount, you
will see a directory structure like Windows.)

7. You
now need to create an .ini file called winpeshl.ini
that will launch the WinRE shell at startup. Open Notepad
and create a file called winpeshl.ini that contains
the following text:

[LaunchApp]

AppPath=x:\sources\recovery\recenv.exe

Save this file as winpeshl.ini and copy it to the
\Windows\System32 directory in your mounted WinRE directory.
At the Windows PE Tools command prompt do this by typing
the following:

copy winpeshl.ini c:\winremount\Windows\System32 <enter>

8.Save
the changes to the WinRE image you have created and modified. You
do this by unmounting the image using ImageX. At the
Windows PE Tools command prompt, type the following:

imagex.exe /unmount /commit c:\winremount <enter>

(FYI…If you now look in c:\winremount, you
will see the directory structure that was there, is
gone.)

9. The winre.wim image file in c:\winreimage is now
updated and ready to use. It should be about 118MB
in size.

10.Copy the
winre.wim file to the root of c:\

11.Also
copy another needed file to the root of c:\ This file is called boot.sdi, and you can find it in
the WAIK, under C:\WAIK\Tools\PETools\x86\boot. (use
the path to your installation of the WAIK)

12.One
last thing. Now that you have created the
necessary files for the Windows Recovery Environment,
you need to be able to access the Windows Recovery
Environment. You do this through the F8 Advanced Boot
Menu during boot up. To add WinRE
to the F8 boot menu,
you need to run the SetAutoFailover.cmd script provided
in the WAIK. This script is located under C:\WAIK\Recovery
(use the path to your installation of the WAIK).
Open an elevated command prompt window, change directory
to C:\WAIK\Recovery, and type the following:

setautofailover.cmd /target c: /wim /nohide <enter>

After you run this, you will see a number of lines
saying “operation completed successfully”.

13. Now reboot your
Vista PC. Press
F8 to go into the Advanced Boot Menu - after
you hear the 1st beep during boot. The first item
on this menu should be "Repair
your computer." Choosing this option will take
you into the Windows Recovery Environment.

14. After you have
tested your Windows Recovery Environment, you can
delete the 2 directories you created - c:\winreimage
and c:\winremount.

Below are links to more information
about the Windows Recovery Environment